This invention relates to a device for bending wire, strip, etc. and more particularly to a device particularly adapted for arts and crafts such that wire may be bent into aesthetically pleasing shapes including spirals, circles, twists, and bends such that craft oriented articles may be formed thereform.
It is generally known in wire coiling that metal wire, strip and the like can be bent or coiled by the interaction of opposed sets of pins through which the stock is fed in a sinuous path to produce the desired bend. One such device is shown by U.S. Pat. No. 1,260,799 issued Mar. 26, 1918 in which a pair of pins 20 are adjustably disposed in relationship to a roller 24 such that the overall above-indicated object is accomplished. Furthermore in U.S. Pat. No. 4,164,133 issued Aug. 14, 1979, a further device is shown in which a roller 44 opposes a pair of rollers 42 and 43 and in which the single roller is adjustable to vary the sinuous or forming gap between the opposed rolls. These and other devices of a similar nature are primarily utilized for heavy industrial applications, and it would be desirable to be able to achieve bending metal wire or strips that are light weight in gauge in a relatively simple system without the necessity of heavy duty and complex adjustment and feed devices. Accordingly, a basic objective of the present invention is the provision of a device which, although utilizing the overall concept of opposed pins, drives the central pin in an elliptical fashion such that the pin can act as both a forming and driving mechanism so that the artisan may more easily manipulate the wire, etc. as well as the relative longitudinal positioning of the opposed pins to accomplish both straightforward and complex shaping techniques.
These and other objects of the present invention are accomplished by a device for bending wire, strip, etc. comprising a housing having a bending station in turn having an upstanding wire driving member, means including a generally elongated actuation arm having opposed ends for moving said driving member in an elliptical path in a plane generally normal to the upstanding orientation of said driving member, said bending station further including wire engaging guide means disposed in longitudinal opposition to said driving member and laterally extending further than the lateral extent of the travel path of said driving member whereby wire fed between said driving member and said guide means generally in said plane is contacted by said driving means and forced against said guide means.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention shall become apparent as the description thereof proceeds when considered in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawings.